Instead, I have to hand code in the Zip Codes I want to target one at a time because the Adwords bulk upload feature automagically converts a Zip Code list into the nearest city’s coordinates.
Bulk Upload 20 Miles Radius In Google AdWords
While on the surface this may appear helpful even intuitive, its not.
If I wanted to target the respective cities, I would enter their specific names not interior Zip Codes!
To this day, I still don’t understand why Google Adwords doesn’t provide pre-loaded Google Maps based Zip Code targeting.
Its not like the smart folks at Google couldn’t figure out how to integrate Zip Code targeting into Google Adwords.
Once activated within an iGoogle homepage, the gadget automatically detects location with your permission or you can enter another location of your choice.
Entering a search term in the Google Offers gadget produces a list of merchants from within the selected area who have created offers in their Google Places account.
Google Offers Gadget
Clicking the “View map” option takes gadget users to a Google Map to view the location of available offers.
Google Offers Map
Users can then click through to the advertiser’s Google Places page –
Google Places Page
or the advertiser’s Google offer page where they can then print out the advertiser’s offer.
Google Offer Page
I expect to seeĀ further Google offer development and distribution options like those found in the Google Offers gadget in the near future.
I thought the following three pack of Google Places results was unusual but also quite instructive.
While there isn’t anything unusual about seeing Google Maps results appear in a list of local results within Google, I hadn’t ever seen anything other than Google Maps results there before.
I think presenting a Facebook page as part of the “Places” results is new.
Google Places Facebook Listing
In this particular example, the business owner has both a Facebook page and a Google Places page that appear in the results.
It looks like Google might have had to crawl the business owner’s Google Places page first to generate the Facebook link and result in the Google three pack.
Google Maps Facebook Link
Regardless of which came first – the Google Place account or the Facebook business page – the marketing possibilities for the yet as unlisted or unsearchable business are exciting.
If having a Facebook business page alone is enough to get listed in Google Places results, what is keeping all the small businesses without websites or directory listings from instead setting up a Facebook business listing and linking it to a Google Places account?
For weeks I have had the same message in my Google Places Analytics account –
“There is no data for your request.”
Google Places Analytics
Since I have visited both my Google Maps and Google Places listings several times over the last month, I can only surmise Google Places Analytics isn’t yet operational regardless of where it gets data from.
With the recent launch of Google Places, I have become more interested in learning what is any differences exist between Places and Google’s other local search engine property – Google Maps.
While I am still in the research phase, I have found one puzzling result in both Google Places and Google Maps – a search for “Google” itself.
While Google Places and Google Maps use a searchers IP address or Google account to determine a searchers address and intent, neither property has yet figured out how to properly deliver the correct search results for “Google”.
Google Places Google
This same search result error occurred for several years in Google Maps and now seems to have made its way over to Google Places.
Google Maps Google
To Google’s credit, searching for Google directly from Google Maps doesn’t appear to produce this type of search result any longer.
However, the errors do occur after searching on Google.com and then clicking the Places or Maps tab which Google apparently interprets as a new search for local results.
Regardless, I don’t think searchers or Google the brand are expecting these types of search results for the keyword Google in either Google Places or Google Maps.
Do you get the same results in Google Places and Google Maps at your place or is this just a one off search results error?
Google Maps has added several new Labs features like Aerial Imagery.
Aerial Imagery
Although Aerial Imagery isn’t yet available for more than a handful of locations, Google implies more aerial imagery may be made available.
From the Google Maps team:
Add Aerial imagery to the map! Aerial imagery gives you rotatable, high-resolution overhead imagery presented in a new perspective. Currently imagery is only available in certain areas, but we’re adding more all the time.
If you have ever wanted to get a bird’s eye view of the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA, Google Maps aerial imagery now provides it.
Aerial View of the Googleplex
Zooming in provides the following view:
Aerial Zoom of Googleplex
Google’s aerial image quality now appears to be on par with Bing’s Bird’s eye view image quality.
Bird's Eye View
However, Google’s aerial image viewer appears to let map users zoom in twice as close to a location as Bing’s Bird’s eye view.
Anyone know where Google is getting these new images?
If they are getting these images by airplane, won’t it take untold man hours to flesh out their image database?
In 1959 Hawaii became the 50th state admitted to the union. 50 years later, Google has included Hawaii as the 50th state in their Street View in Google Maps.
With Google’s imagery of Oahu and Maui, visitors can now take a virtual vacation to Hawaii’s white sandy beaches or plan their next trip.
Take a virtual vacation to the beaches of Hawaii by visiting Google’s Street View Gallery.
The Google Lat Long blog announced today the launch of their partner DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-2 (WV2) satellite.
DigitalGlobe’s successful launch of WV2 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is another important step forward in Google’s making more high resolution, accurate, current imagery available to through its Google Earth and Google Maps products.
If using rockets and satellites to do get a job done aren’t considered a competitive advantage – I don’t know what is.
Is not space the final frontier in the race to map the Earth?
“We’ve added a new tool to Google Maps that lets you communicate directly with Google about any updates that you think need to be made to our maps. You’ll find this “Report a Problem” link on the bottom right of Google Maps (you can also find it by right-clicking on the map). Has that new highway on-ramp finally opened up? Do we have an outdated name for your local school? Was Main Street converted into a pedestrian-only walkway? Tell us! Once we’ve received your edit or suggestion we’ll confirm it with other users, data sources, or imagery. We hope to resolve each edit within a month. If you submit your email address, we’ll even keep you posted on our progress.
Just yesterday, I had a problem generating driving directions with Google Maps where a local athletic park had the correct address but an incorrect Zip Code.
Even though Google Maps had the correct street address, the incorrect Zip Code overrode Google Maps ability to generate a correct point A to point B driving route.
In the example below, you can see the business (Mitch Park) address shows a ZIp Code of 73034.
Correct Address Incorrect Zip Code
Since I didn’t know beforehand this was the incorrect Zip Code for the park,Ā when I attempted to generate driving directions yesterday Google Maps “assumed” my directions were to 1501 East Covell because a East Covell street address coincided with the Zip Code data (and still does) they had for the park.
Mitch Park 73034
Today after editing the listing’ push pin to display the correct address on West Covell,Ā Google Maps has begun to offer two alternative destinations and routes – one to the East Covell (73034 incorrect Zip Code) location and one to the West Covell address ( the 73003 corrected push pin location).
Mitch Park 73003
Selecting the corrected Zip Code address link on West Covell then produced correct driving instructions to the corrected Park location.
Correct Google Maps Driving Directions
Overall, the speed with which these corrections took place in both correcting the park’s location vis-a-vis its Zip Code and then the subsequent alternative destination driving directions – were quite impressive.
Combined with their new base map dataset and users ability to report problems, the Google Earth and Maps team should be able to deliver a more accurate and up to date Google Maps user experience.
Search Marketing Communications 
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